IMO, money isn't the problem. Let me say that again--MONEY ISN'T THE PROBLEM. The problems are: overinflated egos, and lack of ethics in handling money. People in general often don't know how to deal with money, both as mundane currency, and as an entity in and of itself. You see this especially in the pagan community where there's often a "money is evil" attitude. Money supposedly = greed, and corporate culture, and other evil things; money = power, and power corrupts (or so the attitude goes). And, of course, you do get people in the community who seem to do their damnedest to reinforce that stereotype by not being up-front about their motives. Plus you have pagans who were raised Christian and are wholly jaded by the idea of tithing and so believe that everything spiritual should be free, because those evil nasty Christians are the ones who ask for money for your faith (never mind the utility bills for the church building, or repairs, or renting a hall, etc.). And, finally, there are just some people out there who feel that they're entitled to free stuff by virtue of being here on this earth. Granted, not all pagans fall into these categories, but I see them a lot.
You know what? I'll be honest--I want to be able to pay my rent and bills by doing something that I love. And what I love is writing, editing and laying out books, presenting workshops, and creating magical artwork. I'm tired of giving 40+ hours of my week to someone else. I'm tired of cramming my writing and other creative endeavors into nights and weekends.
Most authors--regardless of genre--don't make a living off their writing. 10% royalties is pretty common, though I've seen as low as 8% in this genre. 10% on a $15.00 book means you have to sell 10,000 books a year to make the same amount of money as your average fast food employee. Most pagan books don't sell that much in a decade. And that's the reality of writing as a profession--you have to supplement when and where you can. This is why my husband and I also present workshops, do editing and layout for our publisher, sell my artwork, and do readings at events along with the books.
The other point I wanted to make, though, too, is that we realize that we can't depend on the pagan community to support us in our old age. This is why, for now, we do have day jobs to pay our debts, and once the debts are gone, we're going to be boosting our investments--hell, for all I know, when I'm 75 years old there may not *be* a pagan community to support my wrinkled ass. Better to be as self-reliant as possible.
And this is why we've been learning how to handle the money we have, both mundanely and magically. Money is a force, and if you treat it with respect, it'll return the favor--with interest. Greedily grabbing onto dollars isn't respectful, either to the people who gave them to you, or to Money in general. On the other hand, when I give my time in presentation (as well as travel, research, and other preparations) I expect to be paid for it. The same goes for the literally hundreds of hours that go into writing, researching, editing and publishing a single book. It's an exchange, and as much as I would love to be able to live on the joys of getting to talk shop (which I do love quite a bit), there also needs to be compensation in the form of the currency in use. And sorry, but donations won't cut it. I love the pagan community, but there are a good number of tight-fisted folks. I've found that if I set a price, people will come that want to--we've actually had about the same amount of people showing up for free workshops at a pagan shop as paid ones.
So there's my spiel. You can make money on teaching and presenting workshops, and still be mindful of your actions. Just because some people don't know how to handle money, other people, or their own egos, doesn't mean that money = evil.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-05-22 07:00 pm (UTC)You know what? I'll be honest--I want to be able to pay my rent and bills by doing something that I love. And what I love is writing, editing and laying out books, presenting workshops, and creating magical artwork. I'm tired of giving 40+ hours of my week to someone else. I'm tired of cramming my writing and other creative endeavors into nights and weekends.
Most authors--regardless of genre--don't make a living off their writing. 10% royalties is pretty common, though I've seen as low as 8% in this genre. 10% on a $15.00 book means you have to sell 10,000 books a year to make the same amount of money as your average fast food employee. Most pagan books don't sell that much in a decade. And that's the reality of writing as a profession--you have to supplement when and where you can. This is why my husband and I also present workshops, do editing and layout for our publisher, sell my artwork, and do readings at events along with the books.
The other point I wanted to make, though, too, is that we realize that we can't depend on the pagan community to support us in our old age. This is why, for now, we do have day jobs to pay our debts, and once the debts are gone, we're going to be boosting our investments--hell, for all I know, when I'm 75 years old there may not *be* a pagan community to support my wrinkled ass. Better to be as self-reliant as possible.
And this is why we've been learning how to handle the money we have, both mundanely and magically. Money is a force, and if you treat it with respect, it'll return the favor--with interest. Greedily grabbing onto dollars isn't respectful, either to the people who gave them to you, or to Money in general. On the other hand, when I give my time in presentation (as well as travel, research, and other preparations) I expect to be paid for it. The same goes for the literally hundreds of hours that go into writing, researching, editing and publishing a single book. It's an exchange, and as much as I would love to be able to live on the joys of getting to talk shop (which I do love quite a bit), there also needs to be compensation in the form of the currency in use. And sorry, but donations won't cut it. I love the pagan community, but there are a good number of tight-fisted folks. I've found that if I set a price, people will come that want to--we've actually had about the same amount of people showing up for free workshops at a pagan shop as paid ones.
So there's my spiel. You can make money on teaching and presenting workshops, and still be mindful of your actions. Just because some people don't know how to handle money, other people, or their own egos, doesn't mean that money = evil.